Kathryn Marshall: Shameful that Toronto school board opposed Marie Henein event

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In 2016, I attended an event where Marie Henein was the keynote speaker. It was one of those events geared to young women in the legal profession. Usually at events like this, the speakers rattle on about the fictional notion of “work life balance” and how to manage a career and running a household. By the way, these talks never happen at events geared towards men.

At the time of this event, I had recently had a baby and was feeling all the uncertainty and insecurities that come with being a first-time mom. I was lost and trying to find my way in the legal industry, and Henein’s keynote was a breath of fresh air. She delivered the straight goods. No sugar coating or fluff. She talked about her experiences defending high-profile clients and making a name for herself as the top criminal defence lawyer in Canada.

That day, Henein told the crowd of young female lawyers in the room to avoid becoming cynical about the justice system and to never forget why we went to law school in the first place. She said “take your rightful place in this profession” and be confident about what you are doing.

I held onto every word of her speech and remember thinking at the time that this is the kind of empowering message I wanted my baby daughter to hear one day. Henein’s words truly had an impact on me. I continue to look to her for inspiration and I know many other women in law who consider Henein their hero.

I was, therefore, disgusted and appalled to learn that the organizer of a book club for adolescent girls was told by the Toronto District School Board that they would not promote an event scheduled with Henein this month about her new book, Nothing But the Truth: A Memoir. As reported by the Globe and Mail, the book club, which is largely attended by teenaged girls who come from low-income families, had planned an event where the girls would discuss the book and meet with Henein for a virtual discussion.

Apparently, Henein is too good at her job for the liking of the TDSB.

Tanya Lee, the organizer of the book club for four years, has alleged that she was told by the TDSB last month that they would not be promoting the event to their students because Henein defended former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi, who was acquitted of multiple sexual assault charges. Apparently this sends the wrong message to girls. In the past, the TDSB has promoted Lee’s book club events.

It is so absurd it is hard to believe this actually happened.

The only wrong message this is sending to girls is that it isn’t ok to be the best in your field unless what you are doing is within the confines of what society believes women should be doing.

Women are often held to a different standard than men when it comes to their professional choices. Male lawyers, even high profiled ones like Edward Greenspan, are rarely criticized for their choice of clients. Meanwhile, Henein has received a significant amount of criticism for her work and this is something she has spoken about. In fact, it is discussed in her book.

It is outrageous to hold a lawyer responsible for the alleged conduct of his or her clients. The job of a lawyer is to advocate for the rights of their client. Heinein does this extremely well and is top of her game. In the criminal defence context, strong advocacy is of utmost importance given the significant imbalance of power that exists between an accused and the state. Lawyers like Henein hold the state to account and help to uphold the justice system.

When Globe and Mail went to the school board for comment, the TDSB attempted to gaslight all of us into believing it was one giant misunderstanding.

Henein of course is having none of this spin, and has stated “there are words for this. Misunderstanding is not one of them.”

Shame on the TDSB for reinforcing the glass ceiling.

I am looking forward to reading Henein’s book with my daughter when she is old enough and I think the TDSB should add Henein’s book to their reading curriculum.

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